the sunshine brings out your eyes, stranger
by sunny-umbrella
Summary: Hinata loves taking photos; less so when he needs the perfect set to hand in for a grade, and even less when he's suddenly developed photographer's block, or camera-block, or something along those lines. (written for day three of haikyuu! au week on tumblr)


"Really?" Kenma looked up from his game at his roommate, hitting the pause button. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure! I tried for _ages_! I filled up an entire _gigabyte's_ worth of pictures!" Hinata puts his head on the table mournfully, setting his camera down in front of himself. "None of them feel right."

"I'm sure you'll get a good one soon," Kenma says calmly, taking a sip of his drink. "You have a good eye for what makes a good picture."

"Yeah, but that's not going to be of any use if I can't get the assignment done in time!" Hinata sighs, absentmindedly clicking the shutter button on his camera. The sound makes him feel a bit better. "It's like I've got artist's block, except for photo-taking. Photographer's-block? Camera-block? Does that even exist?"

"If it's you, I'm sure it exists." An amused voice speaks from behind him, and he sees Kuroo pull up a chair out of the corner of his eye, sliding it next to Kenma. "You have a knack for making the impossible possible."

"Kuroo…" Hinata watches as Kenma's eyes soften just the tiniest bit, and Kuroo grins in response, crossing his arms and stretching his legs out. "Doesn't the register need you?"

"Well, you do come during the least busiest time of the day, so I can afford to leave my beloved register to take it with you guys." Kuroo's grin widens. "Are you really that happy to see me?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Kenma turns back to his game, eyes tracking the movement of his avatar. There's a smile wavering at the corners of his mouth.

Hinata lifts his camera, slowly, careful not to disturb, and takes a picture of the scene. _Click_.

"Better than nothing," Kuroo declares, bringing his arms down as he shifts position, leaning forward. "I'll have to take what I can get."

"Hm?" Kenma doesn't look up from his console. "How was that one, Hinata?"

Hinata lowers the camera, studying the playback. It could certainly be acceptable; Kenma with his almost-smile, head ducked; Kuroo watching him with fondness. He shakes his head.

"It's an okay picture, I like it a lot, but..." Hinata frowns. "It just doesn't have the feel I'm looking for."

"Can I see?" Kuroo asks, and Hinata nods, fiddling a bit to get back to the picture, and hands it over. Kuroo squints at it, letting out a low whistle. "Damn; this is really nice. If you think this is just 'okay', then I can't imagine what your perfect picture would be."

"I dunno, just more…_bwoosh!_ to it! But not exactly...intensity, maybe? I'm not sure!" He sighs, frustrated. "It's not you, it's just…I want it to be candid, but really cool too."

"I'm insulted," Kuroo says dramatically, putting the camera down. "I'm cool and candid all the time!"

"That's not true," Kenma replies, eyes still on his console. "Kuroo's one of the lamest people I know."

"Kenma! Not you too?" Kuroo puts a hand over his heart. "You wound me. I thought we were more than this."

"…more than what?" Kenma can't help quirking a smile, and Kuroo has another grin on his face.

"More than—"

Hinata yelps as a ringing sound interrupts the mock-drama, scrabbling for his phone. "Sorry, sorry—hello?"

"_Hey! It's Yachi! I was wondering if you were still coming over to talk about the assignment?_"

"Ah! Right! I'll head over there right now! Thanks for reminding me!"

"_No problem!_" The line drops, and Hinata grabs his camera, looping his shoulder bag's strap over his head. "Gotta run! See you guys later!" He sprints out of the café, skidding a bit as he backpedals, and sets out at a dead sprint to the library.

. . .

Any student at this school would know that the shortest route from the cafés to the library would be through the school inter-building structures. Any experienced student at this school would also know that the fastest way to get to the library was actually through the Square. Being of the latter sort, Hinata also thought that there was someone out there that might know why the Square was actually more of a park, and why a vaguely oval-shaped area of grass would be called a square. In the end, though, it didn't really matter when Hinata was sprinting through it, one arm clutching a camera and the other steadying his bag.

He's almost halfway through the Square when something catches his eye.

It's not uncommon for students to snatch a quick nap on the Square's benches, especially when the weather is nice. Hinata's done it a couple times—well, maybe more—and it's pleasant enough. In that sense, this student should be nothing out of the ordinary. Leaning against the back of the park bench, head laid back, earbuds in.

Hinata slows down to a trot, stopping a couple feet away from the person. There's sunlight dappling the bench; the lighting is perfect for the person, and he feels his fingers itching to take pictures. Lifting his camera up to his eye, Hinata takes a step backwards, then forwards, fiddling with the fine adjustments. _Click_. He readjusts, focusing again. _Click_. Crouching down a bit, turning to the side. _Click_. He looks down at the playback, clicking through the pictures.

The stranger is definitely worth photographing. There's one of him and the bench, the line of his body relaxed just so, eyes closed, the white earbuds contrasting perfectly with the jet-black hair and jacket he's wearing. Another, just his face—long lashes that he's sure some girls would do anything for, a slight downturn to his lips. Hands, loosely linked, on his lap.

Hinata grins, and steadies his camera. These _feel_ right.

At that moment, there's a rustling, and an entire flock of pigeons take to the air, heading over the two of them. The stranger's eyes open; a clear, cold blue.

_Click_. He readjusts, sighting the camera again, and the stranger starts to sit upright. _Click. Click_. He doesn't need to go through playback to know that he wants all of the pictures.

"Heyyy!" Hinata waves, walking towards the stranger. He looks up sharply, expression guarded.

"…What do you want?"

Hinata sticks out his hand, grinning. "I'm Hinata! You have a really pretty face!"

The stranger blinks, pulling out an earbud. "Excuse me?"

Hinata wonders if he didn't hear properly. "I'm Hinata, and I think you have a really pretty face! Look!" He plops down next to the stranger, clicking through the playback. "I'm doing this candid photography project for my class, and I was looking for inspiration, and I saw you and though, wow! He's going to be a really great model! And I was right!"

He holds up the camera. "Take a look! I need to get your permission before I use these photos, but I think they turned out super good—you've got this really nice way of sleeping, it looks really great on camera, and your eyes look great in the sunshine, like shards of ice. It's great. I can send you prints when I'm done editing and handing them in, and—wait—you can look through these—hold this—" Hinata hands over his camera, and rummages through his bag. He finds a fresh sharpie, and uncaps it. "Do you have any paper?"

"N-no?" The stranger seems just a bit confused, dazedly looking back and forth from the camera and Hinata.

Hinata lifts up the sharpie. "Is your hand okay?" He grabs the stranger's hand, the one not holding his camera, and scribbles down his number. "It's my cell; if you're not okay with me using them, send me a text, and if you are, send me a text so I can keep in contact with you and set up a time to give you some prints, okay?" He looks up, and sees the stranger's face turn a curious shade of pink. "Are you alright?"

The stranger snatches his hand away, quickly turning his head away. He sets the camera down in between them. "I-I'm good. You can use them."

"Really? Thanks!" Hinata grins, and stands up, taking the camera and slipping the strap over his head. "You're awesome!"

"Yeah." The stranger pointedly looks away, and Hinata sees the pink on his cheeks deepen. "Hope your project turns out okay."

"Thanks!" Hinata turns away, suddenly feeling giddy. He has to tell Yachi this when he gets to the library.

. . .

"Really?" Yachi smiles at him. "That's such a lucky break!"

"I know, right? It's like fate, or something!" Hinata grins, handing over his camera. "Look at them! They're perfect!" Yachi goes through the playback, and Hinata watches, a bit confused, as the smile slips off her face. "Yachi? What's wrong?"

"H-H-Hinata!" She turns to him, eyes wide. "Do you have _any idea_ who you took pictures of?"

"Ahh…" He trails off, realizing that he forgot to ask the stranger's name. "No? He was kind of cute, though."

Yachi points a finger to the screen of the camera. It's the picture he likes, the one with the pigeon shadows and the stranger's eyes open. "This is Kageyama Tobio! Remember? The prodigy painter?"

"W-W-What?"

"The super anti-social one? Who stays cooped up in his studio all day?" A passing libraries shushes them, and Yachi sets the camera down gently, bringing her voice down a couple notches. "How on _earth_ did you manage to find him outside, in the Square! And how did you get him to let you use him in the photos?"

"I don't know! I just asked, I didn't know he was that famous!" Hinata frowns. "He wasn't that scary…he just said he was okay with it."

Yachi sighs, shaking your head. "Hinata, you're amazing. Only you could get Kageyama Tobio to be your subject."

"But I didn't know it was Kageyama," Hinata says, feeling dazed. "I just thought he was some sleep-deprived college kid like me."

"He probably is," Yachi says thoughtfully. "I wonder if he liked that you treated him like a normal person."

"Maybe. I don't know." He runs his hands through his hair, trying not to think that he, Hinata Shouyo, had just…

"It's a possibility." Yachi nods determinedly. "I think you make people feel better when they're around you, and Kageyama must've felt that too."

"I gave him my phone number," Hinata says, unbelieving. "I called him pretty, and gave him my number."

"Well, I'm sure he'll try to get in touch with you at some point!" Yachi says. "You're going to give him some prints, right?"

Hinata can't believe this.

"I am literally going to die," he moans, and sets his head down on the table.


End file.
